UK's Cameron orders checks into new abuse claims

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government says it is investigating new allegations related to a major child abuse scandal in north Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman said Monday that the leader’s office and at least two government departments were examining claims that previous inquiries into the cases had failed to assess all relevant evidence.

In an interview with the BBC’s “Newsnight” program on Friday, abuse victim Steve Messham alleged that a senior Conservative Party figure was involved in a pedophile ring, but hadn’t been properly investigated. The BBC did not name the political figure, and no-one connected at the time to Cameron’s Conservative Party has ever faced charges related to the abuse scandal.

Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field said the allegations “need to be properly investigated.”